Meet Kenny Brown, college and career coordinator of DC Public Schools, the youngest head coach of Ballou High School varsity football team and founder of KB Enterprises. He created his athletic wear brand for everyday people brave enough to dream and set their mind to seeing those dreams come to life. The Block caught up with Kenny to discuss his journey of building the KB brand and the lessons he’s learned along the way.
“I’m just a kid from Washington that has his own shoe produced by his own brand.”
Kenny Brown
Humble Beginnings
Q: Can you share about the beginning stages of the KB brand?
Kenny: In 2017, I lost about 120 lbs, and I did it naturally by running and a pretty good diet. I started these running challenges, and a lot of people took really well to that. Afterwards, people started to ask me if I could train them, create a diet/meal plan, but that just wasn’t me. I wanted to help, but I believe in doing things that align with what you like. When you do things you don’t like just for money or for instant gratification, it never lasts.
I had to think about what fit me and ultimately, it was an athleisure brand of apparel which is KB. My whole life I’ve wanted my own shoe. I grew up playing sports and thought that was gonna be my ticket to success, but after playing college ball, I saw that wasn’t the direction I would go in.
After receiving so much feedback from the run challenges, I thought to myself, “Maybe this is it.” And it came to me. I told myself, “I’m gonna create my own running shoe.” I knew I needed capital to start, and the rest of the pieces, I would just figure out. I decided then to push forward, and KB was born.
The Vision
Q: What was your process of bringing the KB vision to life?
Kenny: There were a few things happening at once. I remember talking to a friend overseas and shared with him that I wanted to start my shoe line. I talked to another friend as well and shared this, but they didn’t really give me the plug. So I was like, “I have to take matters into my own hands.” I started off with sports bras and leggings and made KB a women’s company.
Q: Why did you decide to go with women’s athleisure wear?
Kenny: Women attract men. If women make something cool, men are like, “Okay, I like and need that.” I remember growing up, when I was about 13, every girl in DC, Maryland was wearing Forever 21 and eventually Harris 81 was born because the men needed something, too. It happens a lot in fashion. So I had a clear understanding of this concept. The segway to introducing men’s items was slides, which were unisex. I merged into menswear with dri-fit shirts, shorts and tights. These items were all for men, but sales picked up a lot with women. So fast forward, I finally had the capital for my shoes.
In 2018, I came out with the prototype. But deep down I wasn’t really proud of it. … The shoe was garbage. But I still promoted it and went along with it because it was my shoe.
This taught me a lot about business and how things that you want take time. You may not get it on the first try. This also gave me a wider scope of the quality and design I wanted for my shoe. The first prototype dropped June 2018 and the final shoe didn’t release until September 2020. It’s all about the process. Slow and steady wins the race.
Creation
Q: What does the KB shoe and brand represent?
Kenny: I wanted it to be a stylish shoe, known for our culture and you can wear it whenever you want. The KB shoe has the versatility to wear to the club, out on a date or going to the mall. Anyone can wear my shoe for working out or leisure. The shoe is black and red, it’s not official DC colors but definitely has DC influence.
As far as the KB brand, I actually had an everyday woman campaign because that’s what I wanted KB to represent. It’s all about the regular, everyday people. … These are the people that have been supporting you and will continue to buy your products. People fall for these Instagram images and believe that’s where it’s at, but it’s not.
Q: Where do you find inspiration?
Kenny: I actually have a group chat with some close friends where we share about our goals and daily wins. If you’re surrounded by people winning and making things happen, you don’t want to be the one lagging, you know. And another thing is, you don’t have to have people of high stature in your circle for it to mean anything; it just needs to be your people. I have a friend Michelle Turner who just launched a clothing line called Off Duty, and we talk about being millionaires every day. She doesn’t even know how much she inspires me. Tony Lewis is a part of that chat I mentioned and I’m inspired by him as well. He’s constantly working with the petition he has for his father, whose been incarcerated for 32 years now for a non-violent drug offense. Motivation comes from the people closest to you.
Full Circle
Kenny: It’s really something being able to see my father with my shoe or my homie who seen me grow up represent for KB. To date, we’ve sold over 325 pairs of KBs. We continue to make waves so that our athleisure brand can be all over the world. I always say KB Enterprise will be a top brand, and when I think about the top brands, I see KB up there.
You can learn more about the KB journey at kbenterpriseco.com and follow Kenny Brown at @thekennyb and @kbenterpriseco.
